T opaz
Our class says your'e sooo cute
Putting you in the cage was sad
A dream came true this day
Zero nightmares at night
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Mr Herilala from the Wildlife conservation society Madagascar
We are weighing the tortoises here, prior to shipping them off to Tulear.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Hellen holding Topaz
Thank you Hellen for being willing and brave enough to let your pet be taken back to where he belongs.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Repatriation from Tana
Last year (2009) Mr. Len (Grade 4) started the process of inquiring about the possibility of repatriating a number of tortoises from Tana back into the
areas from which they come. The obvious educational and conservation value of this exercise has warranted the effort that we have
given it, and it seems that it will bear fruit.
Last year¹s 4th graders (2009) and this year¹s 4th graders (2010)
Collected a sum of money that will help with the project and Mr.
Herilala from the Wildlife Conservation.Society. has assured us that the boma (holding) facility in Tulear is ready to receive the guests.
W.C.S. has a vet who will examine the animals before we have permission to move them. At this stage of the operation we have permission for only one truck carrying a specified number of tortoises to Tulear.
We know that some people will be unwilling to give up their pets and some
may be skeptical about the idea of repatriation. Others may be only too happy to take this opportunity to free their pets from yet another winter in Antananarivo.
The tortoises are being kept in a special area of the school garden till
we can get them vetted and cleaned of parasites
This project forms a practical part of the unit that 4th grade has
been studying: How to care for the earth and what we can do to make a
difference. We sincerely hope that we can rely on your support with
this exciting project. Please contact us if you have any questions about the operation.
The Tulear facility
This is an enclosure where tortoises are kept. Overall there is a total of 7ha that is fenced and it is impossible to get inside unless you can fly over a 2m50 fence.
Written by: Theo, Keenan, Tristan and Sheena . (4th Grade 2010, American school of Antananarivo)
Passports and vetting
The second part of the process in getting the tortoises back to Toliara is getting the tortoise passports and vetting. For the tortoise passport photos, the vet must take a picture of each tortoise on a black-and-white checkerboard background from above and they will be able to recognize the tortoises from the streaks and dings (dents) on the top of the shell. The tortoises also need to be looked at by vets to make sure they do not have diseases that they could pass on to other tortoises.
The second part of the process in getting the tortoises back to Toliara is getting the tortoise passports and vetting. For the tortoise passport photos, the vet must take a picture of each tortoise on a black-and-white checkerboard background from above and they will be able to recognize the tortoises from the streaks and dings (dents) on the top of the shell. The tortoises also need to be looked at by vets to make sure they do not have diseases that they could pass on to other tortoises.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Written by: Christof ,Noah, Abbi and Sudharshan. (4th Grade 2010, American school of Antananarivo)
The tortoises are kept in an enclosure. In the cage, the tortoises are separated into groups. The groups are there so that the babies are separated from their parents. They are located near the beach, and in the cages there is sand to lay eggs in, and grass to eat. The big birds are predators of the tiny baby tortoises.
It is a very small village. It is very hot in Tulear and there must be many trees, to cool down the people and the tortoises, so they don't die of heat. There is not much rain, in the south of Madagascar. The houses of the people are very small, there are not many animals in this area and they might eat the tortoises. The tortoises will be kept in the enclosures until they acclimatize and then they will be released into the wild.
Written by: Isabelle , Youssoupha, Kiran, and Daniel. (4th Grade 2010, American school of Antananarivo)
Tortoises in Tana, and the type of people that have them:
In Tana the people that have money to travel to down to Tuliar can purchase tortoises at the side of the road. So people can get tortoises when they move into a new house, or sometimes the Malagasy people want to show visitors from other countries the tortoises and they are amazed and purchase them.
Keeping them:
We will put the tortoises in the pen next to the music room, it has lots of food but the fence is weak so we have to strengthen it. We will take the tortoises but people will have to pay an amount of Ariary per tortoise because we need the money to change the fence and put up more shelter. We will use the rest of the money to pay the guards that watch the tortoises. The most tortoises we can fit into the area will be around 10-12 individuals.
Written by:Selma, Laura, Gillian, Leon and Ferro. ( Grade 4, 2010 American school of Antananarivo)
Please help us! The Tortoises in Madagascar are in trouble! We need people to help the Fourth Graders to repatriate the radiated tortoises in Antananarivo back to their usual habitat in Tulear, an area in the south of Madagascar. We need to check the tortoises to see if they carry diseases or if they are not feeling well. And this is extremely important because the tortoise in Antananarivo (Ivandry) can’t breed here and so have to go back to Tulear where they can breed naturally. In fact, the Radiated tortoises are in peril if people continue to remove them from their home. We need to drive the tortoises to Tulear. But Tulear is very far from Antananarivo, so we would need a whole big truck to get there! The trip there will be about 600 km which is about two days of driving! And of course, the tortoises need food and shelter inside the truck to keep them alive. The driver also needs to stop driving for a moment to rest. So then, once we have transported them to Tulear, then we will take them to a protected area in Tulear called The Tortoise Villa where the other tortoises remain. Hopefully, it will work to save them.
Written by: Enzo ,Henry, Clara and Laurie (Grade 4, 2010) American school of Antananarivo.
Our radiated tortoises will be transported to the tortoise village, which is situated in South Madagascar. The village is very big. The tortoises will be separated into two groups, the big tortoises and the smaller ones or else the big ones will stamp on the little ones
In the south of Madagascar, there are people who like to have a roasted tortoise or a tortoise soup. Mr. Herilala, is a scientist who is trying to save the radiated tortoises from being eaten by those people. But luckily there is a village that is going to protect those tortoises.
We really need to do this because the Radiated Tortoises will be extinct if we do not save them. Lonesome George, one of the species of tortoises on the Galapagos Islands is the last of his species to be alive in the island of Pinta and if he dies there would be no more like him. Maybe that could also happen to the Radiated tortoises. So, that’s why Mr. Herilala is trying to save them. If he doesn’t it will be the end of the Radiated Tortoises.
At the village the Radiated tortoises our specimens will have everything they need like food and water. So we really need to save the Radiated tortoises!
Monday, December 7, 2009
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